Lasting-pincers.



G. 0.l BARBUR- LASTING PINGERS.

APPLIoATIoN FILED APB. 17. 1909.

974,626. Patenoled Nov'. 1, '1910.

UNTTI STATES PATEN T FFTQE.

GEORGE o. BAEBOUR, OE ROCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To FRANK W.

WHITCHER Co., OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

LASTING-PINCERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

- of Rockland, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented cervtain new and useful Improvements in Lasting-Pincers, of which the following is a specification.

The subject-matter of this invention is a lasting tool particularly adapted for drawing the upper leather of a shoe at the shank around the last, and laying it flat enough on the bottom of the last and the inner sole placed thereon so that it may easily be tacked in place. The tool is therefore particularly adapted for lasting the Shanks of shoes, and may be termed a shank-lasting pincers, but I desire it to be understood that it may also be used for lasting other parts of a shoe. As part of the tool and especially adapting it to the purposes for which it is designed, is a fulcrum foot attached yieldingly to the under side of the tool, for the purpose of giving a purchase so that the upper may be drawn tightly around the shank, and being yielding to permit the gripping jaws to be brought close to the bottom of the sole for laying the edge of the upper almost flat thereon.

The object of the invention is rst, to provide a lasting tool equipped with a foot or fulcrum for the purpose above dened; seoond, to construct the jaws of such a tool so that they will be enabled to grasp the leather with such a firm grip that it cannot be pulled out from between them but will tear rst, while at the same time avoiding danger of scarring or cutting the leather; and third, to provide a hammer-head as a part of such a tool, which is made so that it will not slip from the heads of tacks or nails in case of striking them in a glancing manner, and at the same time will not scar the leather in case of striking the same.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 represents a plan view of my improved lasting tool. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of the tool. Fig. 3 represents an elevation of the tool, showing the manner of its use. Fig. 4 is a perspective view, showing the liammer head in detail. Fig. 5 is an elevation of a modied form of the tool.

The same reference characters indicate the Same parts in all the figures.

Referring to the drawings, the tool is Shown as composed of the members a and b pivoted together by a pintle c. The members have on their forward ends the jaws (l and e, and are provided in the rear of the pivot with handles f and g respectively. Preferably the tool is formed in the manner of a blacksmiths tongs, the handles f and g being integrally united with the aws ci and e respectively.

Beneath the jaws is a foot L which serves as a fulcrum to obtain a purchase on the last, whereby the upper may be drawn tight with a prying action. This foot is provided with two arms z' and j, the former of which extends longitudinally of the tool and is connected to the handle portion of the member a by a screw 7c. This screw passes loosely through a hole Z in the arm, and is threaded adjustably into the member a. Said member has a shoulder fm, against which the end of the arm z' abuts, and in contact with which it is loosely held by the screw. A leaf spring a is secured at one end to the foot, extending into a notch 0 thereof and being fastened to the arm i by a pin p. The spring is curved toward the body of the tool and bears at its end against the member a. The second arm j of the foot is provided to serve as a guide and to maintain the latter in the plane of opening and closing of the jaws. It projects through slots g and r in the jaws, and by engagement with the side walls of such slots prevents displacement of the foot.

The foot is located below and slightly in rear of the gripping ends of the jaws, and is normally projected outward by the spring n and held in the position shown in Fig. 2. The head of screw 7c limit-s the amount by which the foot may be separated from the jaws and is adjustable to vary the outward limit of movement of the foot.V On the bottom of the foot are teeth s provided to enable a grip to be taken on an insole t placed on a last u.

The manner of using the tool is illustrated in Fig. 3. A grip being taken On the edge of the upper by the jaws d and e, the foot li is placed against the bottom of the insole t and used as a fulcrum about which the tool is swung as a lever. Thereby the upper is dra-wn tight around the last, and at the same time the spring is compressed, causing the jaws to be brought down toward the bottom of the insole. While still maintaining a pull on the upper, the tool may be lifted, whereupon the foot will be released from the insole and the spring allowed to throw it upward. A new purchase at a point farther removed from the edge of the sole may be obtained and the upper leather again drawn around the last and downward by a repetition of the prying action. The yielding of the spring allows the jaws to move downward into close proximity to the bottom of the insole and permits the upper to be laid on the same in a manner permitting a tack to be placed and driven. In this movement of the jaws rela-tively to the foot, the arm or horn j of the latter is forced up through t-be slots Q and r as shown. This arm is curved backwardly or oifset between its ends so as to give room to insert a su'iicient length of the upper between the jaws.

One of the particularly valuable features of my invention is the shape and relative arrangement of teeth on the aws which allows the leather to be gripped so firmly that it will tear before being pulled from between the jaws, while at the same time, the teeth do not themselves injure the leather in any way. For this purpose the teeth are made approximately as shown in Fig. 9.. On one of the jaws, for instance the lower jaw e, the teeth are slanted backwardly from the end, these teeth having faces which are respectively approximately perpendicular to the aw as a whole, and inclined away from the end of the jaw. The teeth on the upper jaw Z also have approximately vertical and inclined faces, but the arrangement of such faces is opposite to that of the lower set of teeth, so that the teeth as a whole Slant toward the end of the aw. The relative arrangement of teeth on the two jaws is such that when the jaws are closed, the perpendicular faces of corresponding teeth are somewhat separated, enough space being left so that the edges pass by each other without touching, or without shearing the leather which may be between them. The forward inclination of the upper set of teeth causes the leather to be forced into the notches between the teeth of the lower jaw, and to be pushed against the perpendicular faces thereof so that slipping of the leather past the edges of the teeth, due to any pull within the tensile strength of the leather, is impossible.

Another feature of the invention is the design of the hammer Q1 which is carried by the tool. This hammer consists of a cylindrical vhead having a threaded shank lw which is screwed into the member a and is therefore opposite to the foot h. The operative face of the hammer head is made slightly crowning, and is provided with preferably circular concentric grooves produced by turning. substantial width, suiiicient to catch on the head of a tack or nail and prevent the hammer from slipping from the same in case a ,glancing blow is struck. Between the grooves annular ribs y are formed, which ribs also are of substantial width and are smooth on their outer faces. These outer faces are all approximately in the same plane, or rather in the same spherical segment, so that in case the leather is struck by the hammer, it will not be injured. Thus the hammer may be used for pounding the leather about the edges of the last without causing any injury thereto and there is also no danger of injury to the leather if the hammer should slip when striking a nail. As a further protection against injury, the edges of the hammer are shghtly rounded.

A tack-pulling claw e is provided on the end of the handle f.

In Fig. 5 is shown a modification by which the foot is permitted to lie closer to the under jaw when the same is opened, in order to permit the jaws to grasp the upper leather and lining of a shoe without interference by the foot. In this figure, the foot is represented by It and is formed on the lower end of a curved shank 71.2 which passes through the slots Q and r in the jaws, and is loosely attached by a screw 7c or otherwise, to the member t of the tool on the upper side thereof. In order to permit the shank to lie above the upper jaw, the hammer o is slotted and the shank passes through such slot. There is also a spring its which is contained between the upper limit of the slot and the shank, so as to hold the foot outward and permit the same to yield when the jaws are closed and pressure is applied, as heretofore described. The lower jaw is recessed near its end,` as shown at e', so as to permit the foot to lie close thereto when the jaws are opened. The foot has a tooth or line of teeth s at its extreme end and a second tooth or line of teeth s at a slight distance back from its end.

I claim l. A lasting tool comprising pivoted members having gripping jaws transversely slotted, a fulcrum foot loosely connected with one of said members and having a guide arm movable in the slots of the jaws.

2. A lasting tool comprising gripping jaws, a serrated fulcrum foot attached thereto beneath and in rear of the ends of said jaws, and movable toward and from the jaws, a spring tending to hold said foot away from the aws, and an adjustable stop limiting the 1naximumoutward movement of the foot.

3. A lasting tool comprising pivotally These grooves are ofv shoulder on one of said members', a fulcrum foot having an arm lying longitudinally of the tool and abutting at its end on said shoulder, a screw passing through said arm into the adjacent member, loosely securing the arm and foot thereto, and a spring reacting between the arm and member tending to hold the foot as far away from the jaws as permitted by the position of the screw.

4. A lasting tool comprising pivotally connected members having gripping jaws, a shoulder on one of said members, a fulcrum foot having an arm lying longitudinally of the tool and abutting at its end on said shoulder, a screw passing through said arm into the adjacent member', loosely securing the arm and foot thereto, and a leaf spring secured at one end to the arm and bearing at its other end against the said member, tending to hold the foot as far away from the jaws as permitted by the adjustment of the screw.

5. A lasting tool comprising pivoted members having gripping jaws transversely slotted, a fulcrum foot having an arm eX- tending lengthwise of the tool and connected to one of said members, and having a guiding arm projecting into the slots of said jaws, and a spring arranged to hold the toot away from the jaws.

6. A lasting tool consisting oi' pivotally connected members each formed on one side of the pivot as a jaw and on the other side of the pivot as a handle, a fulcrum foot connected to one of said members so as to lie in the plane of opening and closing of the jaws and mounted so as to be resiliently yielding in the same plane, and a hammer head se cured on one of the jaws oppositely to said foot.

7. A lasting tool consisting of pivotally connected members each having a jaw, and a fulcrum foot connected to one of said members so as to lie in the plane of opening and closing of the jaws, and mounted so as to be resiliently yielding in the same plane.

8. A lasting tool comprising gripping jaws, a fulcrum foot attached thereto beneath and in rear of the ends of said jaws, and movable toward and from the jaws, a spring tending to hold said foot away from the jaws, and an adjustable stop limiting the maximum outward movement of the foot.

9. A lasting tool comprising pivotally connected members having gripping jaws, a fulcrum foot having an arm loosely connected with one of said' pivoted members, a spring connected with the arm of said fulcrum foot whereby the foot has a yielding movement under tension with relation to said jaws, said jaws both being formed with slots which register with each other when the jaws are closed and an arm connected with the foot which is adapted to play through said slots during the operation of the tool.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE 0. BARBOUR.

Vitnesses:

`WILLIAM S; CUsHING, Jr., JENNLE S. CUSHING. 

